The  Relation  of 
THE  LIBERAL  CHURCHES 

AND  THE 

-  FRATERNAL  ORDERS 


BY 

ELIJAH  ALFRED  COIL 


PUBLISHED  FOR  FRP:E  DISTRIBUTION 

AMERICAN  UNITARIAN  ASSOCIATION 

25  BEACON  STREET,  BOSTON,  MASS. 


The  American  Unitarian  Association  is  the  working 
missionary  organization  of  the  Unitarian  churches  of 
America.  It  seeks  to  promote  sympathy  and  united  action 
among  Liberal  Christians,  and  to  spread  the  principles 
which  are  believed  by  Unitarians  to  be  essential  to  civil 
and  religious  liberty  and  progress  and  to  the  attainments 
of  the  spiritual  life.  To  this  end  it  supports  missionaries, 
establishes  and  maintains  churches,  holds  conventions,  aids 
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tions  of  churches  and  individuals. 

There  are  two  forms  of  membership  in  this  Association 
provided  for  those  who  desire  to  cooperate  in  the  spread 
of  liberal  religious  thought  and  influence : 

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Members  by  signing  an  application  card  (sent  upon  request) 
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occasional  other  communications  from  Headquarters. 


Address  communications  and  contributions  to  the 

American  Unitarian  Association 

25  BEACON  STREET  BOSTON,  MASS. 


THE  RELATION  of  the  LIBERAL  CHURCHES 
and  the  FRATERNAL  ORDERS 


Text: — One  Grod  and  Father  of  all  ^  who  is  above  all^ 
and  through  all  and  in  you  all:  Eph.  4,  6. 

“  In  the  name  of  God,  Amen.” 

Since  weighing  anchor,  and  setting  sail  for  the  new 
world,  where  Brewster  and  his  devoted  band  hoped 
to'  enjoy  the  liberty  to  worship  God  according  to  the 
dictates  of  their  own  consciences,  sixty-three  days 
had  elapsed.  The  travel  worn  Pilgrims,  gathered  in 
the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower,  formulated  and  signed 
that  historic  compact  which  Goldwin  Smith  says 
marks  the  passage  “  PTom  the  feudal  age  of  privilege 
and  force  to  the  age  of  due  submission  and  obedience 
to  just  and  equal  offices  and  laws,  for  our  better 
ordering  and  preservation.” 

The  unsettled  conditions  amid  which  the  weary 
Pilgrims  of  1620  were  struggling  to  erect  new 
standards  and  formulate  new  policies  were,  in  a  way, 
typical  of  those  that  exist  now.  A  new  compact  is 
needed,  and  I  do  not  believe  a  better  introduction  to 
it  than  that  adopted  by  the  formulators  of  tlie  May¬ 
flower  compact  can  be  found.  It  is  in  perfect  keeping 
with  the  practices  of  many  people  of  our  day,  consti¬ 
tutes  a  common  ground  on  which  to  perform  the  act 
of  individual  and  collective  consecration,  and  yet  does 

3 


4 


not  savor  in  the  least  of  those  controversies  concern- 
uig  dogmas  and  ceremonials  that  have  created  so 
much  havoc  among  men. 

Speaking  of  the  theory  of  selection,  the  Rt.  Hon. 
A.  J.  Balfour  says  “It  leaves  untouched  all  that  can 
be  inferred  from  the  existence  of  the  conditions  which 
make  organic  evolution  possible ;  matter  which  lives, 
multiplies,  and  varies ;  an  environment  which  possesses 
the  marvelously  complex  constitution  required  to 
make  these  processes  possible.  Selection  may  modify 
these  conditions,  but  it  cannot  start  them.  It  may 
modify  the  manner  in  which  multiplication  is  secured; 
it  may  modify  the  lines  which  variations  follow ;  it 
may  enable  organic  species  to  adapt  their  powers  to 
their  environment,  and  within  narrow  limits,  their 
environment  to  their  powers.  But  it  can  not  pro¬ 
duce  either  the  original  environment  or  the  original 
living  matter.”  At  that  point  we  are,  so  it  seems  to 
me,  brought  face  to  face  with  God,  the  “  Directing 
mind”  of  the  universe  and  Father  of  all  mankind. 

“  In  the  name  of  God,  Amen.”  Since  all  men  have 
to  grant  a  source  from  which  all  things  proceed,  and 
can  account  for  law  only  as  they  grant  a  will  to 
establish  it,  here  is  a  declaration  to  which  all  can 
subscribe.  It  is  when  discussions  about  trinities  and 
unities,  and  attributes,  and  the  manner  of  revealing 
or  manifesting  are  started  that  differences  of  opinion 
begin  to  appear,  and  divisions  take  place.  We  can 
be  absolutely  sure  that  there  is  a  source  from  which 
finite  self-consciousness  proceeds ;  but  as  to  the 
attributes  of  that  source,  and  the  manner  of  revealing 


or  manifesting  itself  to  the  finite,  there  is,  as  many 
sad  events  show,  room  for  wide  differences  of  opinion, 
and  the  possibility  of  much  bitterness  and  persecution. 
This  being  true  it  seems  clearly  to  be  a  departure 
from  the  path  of  wisdom  to  erect  any  set  of  opinions 
as  to  the  attributes  of  the  Infinite,  and  the  methods 
whereby  revelations  or  manifestations  are  made  to 
the  finite,  into  tests  or  conditions  of  fellowship,  thus 
setting,  as  such  a  course  invariably  does,  large  bodies 
of  earnest,  conscientious  people  over  against  each 
other,  sometimes  in  bitterness  and  strife.  Thinking 
people  will,  of  course,  have  their  theories  about  the 
attributes  of  the  Infinite,  and  as  to  the  manner  of 
making  revelations  to  the  finite,  and  relations  there¬ 
with,  but  that  those  theories  need  be  erected  into 
tests  or  conditions  of  fellowship  in  order  to  enable 
men  to  stand  together  and  work  for  both  material  and 
spiritual  wellbeing  has  been  so  thoroughly  disproved 
that  a  wayfaring  man,  though  possessing  but  one  eye, 
cannot  well  help  seeing  that  such  a  course  is  not 
necessary. 

Preceding  and  following  tlie  reformation  of  the  six¬ 
teenth  century  two  currents  of  thought  and  infiuence 
tliat  have  had  much  to  do  with  the  shaping  of  the  life 
and  forms  of  Protestant  Christendom  can  be  plainly 
discerned.  One  of  them  ran  by  way  of  the  ninety- 
five  theses  nailed  to  the  door  of  the  church  in  Witten¬ 
berg,  the  Augsburg  and  Westminister  confessions, 
the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  and  many  denominational 
creeds  that  have  drawn  their  chief  substance  from 
them.  That  current,  dogmatic  and  formal,  found 


6 


embodiment  and  expression  in  the  orthodox  Protest¬ 
ant  denominations  of  Europe  and  America.  The 
other  ran  by  way  of  Hungary,  and  St.  Sebald’s  school 
in  Nuremberg  where  Hans  Denck  was  school  master, 
and  flowing  on,  touched  the  homes  of  Joliann  Bun- 
derlin,  Christian  Entf elder,  Jacob  Boehme,  John 
Everard,  Sir  Harry  Vane  and  other  continental  and 
English  leaders  who  put  the  emphasis  on  the  spirit 
and  life  rather  than  on  dogma  and  ceremonial.  This 
current,  ethical  and  spiritual,  found  embodiment  and 
expression  in  the  churches  called  liberal,  and  the 
great  secret  fraternal  orders  that  have  come  to  be 
such  an  important  factor  in  modern  life.  Hans  Denck 
declared  himself  as  positively  against  the  idea  of  im¬ 
puted  righteousness,  insisting  that  no  one  can  justly 
be  classed  and  rewarded  as  righteous  unless  he 
actually  is  righteous.  He  would  not  allow  that  any 
mpral  or  spiritual  qualities  could  be  imputed  to  a 
man  unless  they  really  entered  into  and  constituted 
a  part  of  his  character.  Christian  Entf  elder  ex¬ 
pressed  a  deep  seated  conviction,  shared  by  the  lead¬ 
ers  of  a  great  spiritual  reformation,  when  he  said; 
“  In  every  age  and  in  every  land,  the  inner  word  of 
God,  the  voice  of  the  spirit  speaking  within,  clarify¬ 
ing  the  mind  and  training  the  spiritual  perceptions 
by  a  progressive  experience,  has  made  for  itself  a 
chosen  people.”  Sebastian  Franck  declared:  “Nobody 
is  the  master  of  my  faith,  and  I  desire  to  be  the  master 
of  the  faith  of  no  one.  I  love  any  man  whom  I  can 
help,  and  I  call  him  brother  whether  he  be  Jew  or 
Samaritan.”  In  those  utterances  there  is  clearly  fore- 


7 


shadowed  the  great  doctrine  of  the  universal  father¬ 
hood  of  God  and  brotherhood  of  Man.  Entfelder 
and  Franck  sensed  that  vitalizing  truth  which  Samuel 
Longfellow  embodied  in  his  inspiring  hymn  entitled 
“Tlie  Churcli  Universal,”  one  stanza  of  which  runs  as 
follows : 

“  Her  priests  are  all  God’s  faithful  sons, 

To  serve  the  world  raised  up ; 

The  pure  in  heart  her  baptized  ones ; 

Love  her  communion  cup.  ’ 

Early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  a  few  earnest  men 
interpreting  religion  in  ethical  and  spiritual  terms, 
and  anxious  to  escape  the  disrupting  controversies 
and  prejudicies  incident  to  insistance  upon  a  dog¬ 
matic  or  ceremonial  test  of  fellowship,  chose  James 
Anderson,  minister  of  the  Scottish  Presbyterian 
church  in  Piccadilly,  London,  and  John  Theophilus 
Desaguliers,  son  of  a  Frencli  Protestant  clergyman, 
with  other  men  of  recognized  ability,  to  cdnstruct, 
out  of  ancient  Masonic  principles  and  practices  a 
constitution  for  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England.  They 
recommended  “  A  universal  creed,  on  the  plan  of  the 
fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  Mankind”, 
one  that  would  include  good  men  of  all  forms  of 
religion,  all  nationalities,  and  all  stations  in  life. 
The  new  constitution,  which  they  formulated  and 
recommended,  was  adopted  in  1723,  and  on  that  basis 
an  institution  almost  as  extensive  as  humanity,  and 
noted  for  its  effective  work  in  many  spheres  of  life, 
has  been  built  up. 

Because  it  exalted  character  above  creed  and  rank. 


V 


8 


speculative  Freemasonry  aroused  the  opposition  of 
both  the  supporters  of  dogmatic  and  ceremonial  forms 
of  religion,  and  the  beneficiaries  of  royalty.  The 
priestly  class  soon  saw  that  to  allow  real*  liberty  of 
thought  and  conscience  in  things  dogmatic  and  cere¬ 
monial,  and  the  conditioning  of  fellowship  upon 
character  alone,  would  undermine  and  utterly  destroy 
their  authority,  and  they,  therefore,  set  themselves 
resolutely  against  the  institution.  Then  there  was 
so  much  democracy  in  the  institution  as  it  appeared 
in  its  new  form  and  dress  that  crowned  heads  and 
the  nobility  quickly  discerned  that  it  was  inimical  to 
their  selfish  interests,  and  it  was  vigorously  opposed 
by  them.  Figuratively  speaking,  a  comely  child  had 
been  born  into  the  world,  but  there  was  no  room 
found  for  it  in  the  ecclesiastical  and  royal  inn. 
Having  been  rejected  by  ecclesiasticism  and  royalty, 
the  new  born  child  turned  to  the  common  people,  was 
gladly  received,  and  now,  grown  into  a  giant  of 
mighty  proportions,  is  the  source  of  many  blessings 
to  mankind. 

We  now  have  many  other  secret  fraternal  organiz¬ 
ations  ;  but  most  of  them  have  also  embodied  the 
principle  of  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brother¬ 
hood  of  Man  in  their  constitutions,  and  other  pro¬ 
nouncements.  As  an  instance,  I  cite  the  monument 
erected  in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  in  1865  and  dedicated 
to  the  memory  of  Thomas  Wildey  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Odd  Fellows.  On  the  north  side  of  the 
base  of  that  monument  there  are  inscribed  these 
Avords :  “  He  who  realizes  that  the  true  mission  of 


9 


man  on  earth  is  to  rise  above  the  level  of  individual 
influence,  and  to  recognize  the  fatherhood  of  God 
over  all,  and  the  brotherhood  of  Man,  is  nature’s  true 
nobleman”.  To  this  principle,  embodied  in  the  con¬ 
stitutions  and  literature  of  our  great  secret  orders, 
there  are  pledged  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men, 
representing  many  forms  of  religion ;  but  working 
together  in  peace  and  harmony.  These  organizations 
cultivate  reverence  for  the  Infinite,  most  of  them 
opening  and  closing  their  meetings  with  prayer. 
They  raise  and  insist  upon  high  moral  standards, 
promote  large  philanthropies,  and  establish  true  and 
helpful  friendsliips  among  many  who  might  otherwise 
have  remained  perpetually  separated  and  prejudiced 
against  each  other.  In  fact  they  are  bringing  to¬ 
gether,  and  uniting  in  tlie  bonds  of  a  real  and  practi¬ 
cal  friendship,  many  whom  the  churches  have 
separated.  Although  bitterly  opposed  for  a  long 
time  by  many  of  the  churches,  these  institutions  have 
grown  so  strong,  and  have  so  commended  themselves 
to  thoughtful  people,  that  opposition  to  them  has 
greatly  weakened  and  is  rapidly  disappearing. 

It  is  becoming  more  and  more  clear  to  me,  as  the 
facts  relating  to  the  subject  are  brought  out,  that  the 
fraternities,  and  the  churches  called  liberal,  have  been 
working  along  parallel  lines  for  years  ;  but,  because 
the  one  put  the  chief  emphasis  upon  the  fatlierhood 
of  God  and  therefore  empliasized  theology,  wliile  the 
other  put  the  chief  emphasis  upon  the  brotherhood  of 
Man  and  therefore  emphasized  sociology,  they  have 
not  realized  that  they  were  occupying  practically  the 


10 


same  ground.  They  have  not  therefore  always  sup¬ 
plemented  each  other’s  work  as  they  should  have 
done.  Evidences  of  a  better  understanding  are  now 
appearing,  and  there  is  promise  that  real  cooperation 
will  ensue. 

The  more  I  learn  of  the  origin,  history  and  litur¬ 
gies  of  the  great  fraternities  of  today,  the  more 
amazed  I  become  that  the  kinship  between  them  and 
the  liberal  churches  was  not  clearly  discerned  a  half 
century  ago.  Also,  the  more  I  learn  of  the  funda¬ 
mental  principles  of  the  great  fraternities,  the  more 
interested  do  I  become  in  the  fact  that  many  people 
who  denounce  the  churches  called  liberal  enthusiast¬ 
ically  endorse,  as  fraternity  men,  the  very  principles 
for  which  those  churches  stand.  I  have  often 
thought,  in  recent  years,  that  I  should  like  to  organize 
a  Sunday  school  class,  and  use  as  a  text  book  the 
monitors  of  our  leading  fraternal  orders,  and  show 
the  members  of  those  organizations  the  logic  of  the 
principles  to  which  they,  in  their  lodges,  are  pledged. 
Nearly  all  of  tliose  monitors  have,  as  their  very  heart, 
the  fatherhood  of  God,  the  brotherhood  of  Man,  im¬ 
mortality,  and  salvation  by  character,  principles  very 
familiar  to  every  Unitarian  Sunday  school  scholar 
wlio  has  been  properly  tauglit  the  fundamentals  of 
our  faith. 

That  the  fundamental  difference  in  the  principles 
embodied  in  the  historic  creeds  of  Christendom  and 
those  of  our  modern  secret  orders  has  not  been 
clearly  thought  out  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
many  pledge  themselves  to  both.  There  are  lodge 


11 


men  who,  in  the  churches,  subscribe  to  the  doctrine 
that  “We  are  accounted  righteous  before  God  only 
for  the  merit  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ, 
by  faith  and  not  for  our  own  works  or  deservings,” 
and  enthusiastically  join  in  the  singing  of  hymns  in 
which  that  idea  is  embodied.  Then  in  their  lodge 
meetings  they  just  as  enthusiastically  assent  to  the 
following  declaration  :  “Although  our  thoughts,  words 
and  actions  may  be  hidden  from  the  eyes  of  men,  yet 
that  All-Seeing  Eye  whom  the  sun,  moon  and  stars 
obey,  and  under  wliose  watchful  care  even  comets 
perform  their  stupendous  revolutions,  pervades  the 
inmost  recesses  of  the  human  lieart,  and  will  reward 
us  according  to  our  merits.”  A  little  child,  once  its 
attention  is  called  to  the  matter,  ought  to  be  able  to 
see  that  it  is  impossible  to  harmonize  the  creed  state¬ 
ment  here  quoted,  with  the  declaration  taken  from 
the  monitor  of  one  of  our  greatest  and  most  effective 
secret  orders,  and  found,  in  substance,  in  the  liturgies 
of  nearly  all  the  others.  If  “We  are  accounted  right¬ 
eous  before  God,  only  for  the  merit  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour,  Jesus  Christ  by  faith  and  not  for  our  own 
works  or  deservings,”  tlien  it  cannot  possibly  be  true 
that  the  All-Seeing  Eye  “  Pervades  the  inmost  re¬ 
cesses  of  the  human  heart,  and  will  reward  us  accord¬ 
ing  to  our  merits.”  One  of  these  declarations 
excludes  the  other.  Men  cannot  consistently  sub¬ 
scribe  to  both.  They  do,  however,  subscribe  to  botli, 
and  are  thereby  led  into  inconsistencies  which  they 
do  not  discern.  Altliough  the  Rev.  W.  A.  Sunday 
denounces  tlie  principle  of  salvation  by  character. 


12 


and  declares :  “The  fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
brotherhood  of  Man  are  the  worst  rot  ever  dug  out 
of  hell,”  it  nevertheless  often  happens  that  the  lodges, 
pledged  to  the  very  things  he  thus  characterizes  and 
condemns,  go  in  bodies  to  hear  him  and  seem  to  ap¬ 
prove  his  utterances.  The  fact  that  they  do  this  does 
not  indicate  that  they  are  deliberately  inconsistent  but 
rather  that  they  subordinate  reason  to  sentiment  and 
emotion  on  such  occasions.  That  confusion  and 
weakness  are  resulting  from  the  course  many  are  now 
pursuing  in  thus  pledging  themselves  to  one  set  of 
principles  in  their  churches,  and  to  another  set  in 
their  lodges,  is  so  apparent  that  all  who  see  condi¬ 
tions  as  they  really  are  should  count  it  a  privilege  to 
help  clear  the  atmosphere  and  bring  about  a  more 
consistent  course. 

If  ever  there  was  an  age  in  which  clear  thinking 
and  conscientious  action  were  needed  it  is  the  one 
in  which  we  live.  The  inadequacy  of  the  dogmatic 
and  ceremonial  forms  of  religion  is  being  more  clearly 
shown  every  day.  That  is  why  I  say  a  new  compact 
is  needed,  and  it  should  be  so  formulated  that  the 
good  people  of  all  lands,  races  and  forms  of  religion 
can  unite  upon  it.  As  conditions  now  are,  earnest 
men  are  anxiously  inquiring :  “What  must  the 
church  do  to  be  saved  ?  ”  Addressing  the  one 
thousand  five  hundred  delegates  attending,  in  Balti¬ 
more,  Maryland,  a  convention  called  in  the  interest 
of  missionary  work,  Fred  B.  Smith  of  New  York 
was  reported  as  saying,  refering  to  the  most  frightful, 
destructive  and  unchristian  war  the  world  has  ever 


13 


seen :  “The  war  has  set  tlie  kingdom  of  God  back  one 
hundred  years.  Civilization  stands  condemned.  The 
kingdom  of  Christ  will  never  be  brought  about  by  seg¬ 
regated  sectarianism.”  I  believe  that  is  true  ;  but  we 
are  sure  to  have  segregated  sectarianism  just  so  long 
as  there  is  insistence  upon  dogmas  and  ceremonials 
as  tests  of  fellowship  and  conditions  of  salvation. 
Tut  the  awful  war  to  which  Mr.  Smith  refers,  and  in 
the  thought  of  which  we  are  so  dazed  that  it  is  im¬ 
possible  to  find  words  that  will  express  our  feelings, 
is  not  the  only  blot  on  the  civilization  of  today. 
There  is  bitter  and  wide-spread  strife  in  the  indus¬ 
trial  world ;  drunkenness  and  its  appalling  conse- 
({uences;  commercialized  vice  with  its  attendant 
disease  and  degredation,  and  many  other  things,  that 
might  be  enumerated,  which  go  to  show  the  inade¬ 
quacy  of  the  prevailing  forme  of  religious  thought 
and  practice  to  meet  the  needs  of  this  age.  The  time 
has  come  when  men  should  be  taught,  in  no  uncertain 
terms,  that  they  cannot  bring  on  wars  with  their 
awful  consecpiences ;  promote  drunkenness,  trai’lic  in 
vice  and  do  tlie  liundred  other  tliiim's  beingr  done 
which  degrade  humanity  and  intensify  suffering,  and 
tlien  be  saved  through  the  merits  of  anotlier  and  not 
for  their  own  works  or  deservings.  It  should  be 
made  clear  to  them  that  we  are  all  children  of  one 
Father,  and  tliat,  as  members  of  a  common  household, 
we  cannot  escape  sharing  in  the  conditions  wliich  we 
help  to  create  in  this  world,  and  tliat  our  harvest 
“Over  tliere”  will  be  determined  by  just  wliat  we  sow 
here.  This  is  what  the  liberal  clinrcli  and  most  of 


V 


14 


our  fraternities  are  trying  to  impress  upon  the 
world. 

Seeing  the  conditions  that  now  obtain  after  some 
hundreds  of  years,  during  which  the  dogmatic  and 
ceremonial  form  of  religion  has  been  in  the 
ascendency,  it  would  seem  that  those  who  question 
the  adequacy  of  that  form,  and  are  trying  earnestly 
to  put  an  ethical  and  spiritual  form  of  religion  in  its 
place,  would  receive  more  consideration  than  they  do 
at  the  hands  of  those  who  are  trying  to  revive  the  old 
system,  and  bring  the  people  back  to  the  churches  by 
way  of  the  tabernacle.  If  the  medical  profession 
found  their  remedies  as  unavailing  as  war  and  other 
attendant  evils  show  the  dogmatic  and  ritualistic 
form  of  religion  to  be,  and  some  one  proposed  a  new 
remedy  that  had  proven  as  effective  in  the  physical 
sphere  as  our  ethical  and  spiritual  form  of  religion 
has  proven  itself,  I  believe  the  representatives  of 
that  profession  would  gladly  try  tlie  remedy,  and 
thank  those  proffering  it  for  their  interest  and  desire 
to  help. 

Looking  at  the  world  as  it  is  today  begets  the  con¬ 
viction  that  there  must  be  a  better  way  than  the  one 
which  the  majority  has  been  following.  That  better 
way,  1  am  sure,  has  been  clearly  indicated.  It  con¬ 
sists  in  the  reverent  practical  recognition  of  the 
Infinite  from  whom  we  all  proceed  as  universal 
father,  and  that  necessary  corollary,  the  universal 
brotherhood  of  Man,  and  then  in  building  upon  that 
foundation  a  super-structure  of  reverence,  temperance, 
prudence,  fortitude,  and  justice  which  will  insure  a 


15 


nobler  type  of  inanliood  and  a  better  society.  To 
tliese  things  the  liberal  churches  are  pledged,  and  these 
are  the  very  principles  most  of  our  great  secret  orders 
are  striving  to  uphold  and  promote.  Our  spiritual 
and  etliical  relations  are  very  close  even  though  we 
may  not  hitherto  have  recognized  that  fact.  Seeing 
the  relationship  we  should  act  upon  it  and  so  supple¬ 
ment  each  other’s  work  as  to  make  it  more  effective 
for  good.  Fraternity  men,  interested  in  the  welfare 
of  their  children,  should  be  informed  that  in  the 
liberal  churches  their  children  will  be  trained  in  prin¬ 
ciples  which  they  will  not  practically  have  to  deny 
should  they  become  members  of  the  lodge.  This  is 
something  of  far  greater  importance  than  it  may  at 
first  seem. 

To  develop  the  noblest  type  of  manhood  and 
womanhood,  and  insure  the  best  possible  societ}*,  a 
beginning  must  be  made  at  the  cradle.  That  is  why 
tlie  home  and  Sunday  school  and  church  have  it  in 
their  power  to  do  a  most  important  work  in  the  devel¬ 
opment  of  the  right  kind  of  character.  They  can 
take  and  mold  the  child  as  no  other  institution  can. 
The  fraternities,  constituted  as  they  are,  cannot  do  it. 
Experience  shows  that  to  be  indifferent  to  the  moral 
and  spiritual  wellbeing  of  the  cliildren,  at  the  same 
time  cherishing  the  hope  tliat  some  institution  can 
take  the  full  grown  men  or  women,  early  training 
having  been  neglected,  and  s]iaj)e  them  into  a  noble 
and  satisfactory  society  is  to  heap  up  bitter  disap¬ 
pointment,  the  hurt  of  which  cannot  be  evaded.  It 
is  time  for  a  general  awakening  to  this  fact,  and  with 


16 


that  awakening  there  needs  to  come  a  general  realiza¬ 
tion  that  the  people  and  organizations  pledged  to  the 
same  principles  should  understand  each  other  better 
and  try  to  supplement  each  other’s  endeavors  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  insure  the  very  best  and  largest  pos¬ 
sible  results.  I  have  already  shown  that,  as  it  is 
now,  many  people  are,  unthinkingly  and  unconsciously, 
in  most  cases,  I  think,  pledging  themselves  to  prin¬ 
ciples  as  irreconcilable  as  fire  and  water.  The  result 
is  loss  of  interest  and  strength  on  the  part  of  many 
without  their  being  able  to  explain  why.  As  an 
illustration  of  what  I  mean,  here  is  an  actual  expe¬ 
rience  which,  in  one  form  or  another,  is  duplicated 
many  times  a  year.  A  member  of  an  “Orthodox” 
church  said  to  me :  “Although  I  go  to  church  reg¬ 
ularly,  I  can  not  enthuse  over  church  work  as  I  once 
did,  and  I  regret  the  fact  very  much.”  Noting  that 
he  wore  the  emblem  of  a  great  fraternity,  I  asked : 
“  Do  you  attend  lodge  regularly?  ”  Upon  his  answer¬ 
ing  in  the  affirmative,  I  said ;  “  Let  me  diagnose 

your  case.”  He  assented  and  1  proceeded  thus : 
“  You  go  to  lodge  where  you  are  taught  the  father¬ 
hood  of  God,  the  brotherhood  of  Man,  and  salvation 
by  character,  and  it  all  seems  so  reasonable  to  you 
that  you  heartily  approve  the  teaching.  You  then 
go  to  church  on  Sunday  where  you  are  taught  that 
we  are  not  the  children  of  God,  except  as  we  become 
such  through  the  process  of  adoption ;  that  only  those 
men  who  have  had  a  kindred  religious  experience  and 
subscribe  to  specified  dogmas  and  conform  to  certain 
ritualistic  requirements  are  brothers  in  the  religious 


17 


sense;  that  salvation  is  not  by  character,  but  through 
‘  The  merit  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  by 
faith  and  not  for  our  own  works  or  deservings,’  and 
that  teaching  does  not  satisfy  your  sense  of  reason 
and  justice,  therefore,  deep  down  in  your  heart  you 
do  not  believe  it,  hence  your  waning  interest  in 
church  work.”  lie  looked  at  me  steadily  for  a  moment, 
and  then  said :  ‘T  did  not  realize  my  difficulty,  but  I 
think  you  have  diagnosed  my  case  exactly.”  Thou¬ 
sands  of  men  are  as  that  man  is,  and  when  they 
come  to  realize  their  condition,  and  get  their  thoughts 
clearly  defined,  and  properly  related  in  their  own 
minds,  they  will  come  to  be  more  enthusiastically 
religious  than  ever  they  were  before.  They  will  lie 
less  dogmatic,  but  have  more  reverence  for  God,  less 
sectarian,  but  more  brotherly  and  helpful ;  less  con¬ 
cerned  about  their  personal  salvation,  but  more 
earnest  in  their  endeavors  to  uplift  and  transform  the 
world  by  overcoming  evil  with  good. 

Now  I  am  ready  to  make  my  appeal  to  you.  I 
want  you  to  realize  that  to  neglect  the  moral  and 
spiritual  training  of  the  young,  or  to  teach  them 
principles  so  out  of  harmony  with  the  general  trend 
of  thought  that  they  are  almost  sure  to  be  held  in¬ 
differently  or  given  up  entirely  in  later  life,  is  to 
invite  moral  and  religious  calamity.  Study  those 
ages  in  which  long  established  forms  of  religious 
faith  have  broken  down  and  you  will  get  the  force  of 
what  I  am  now  saying.  I  have  been  devoting  much 
time  to  an  investigation  of  the  subject,  and  I  say, 
without  fear  of  successful  contradiction,  that  the  liberal 


18 


churches,  from  their  beginning,  have  been  developing 
in  thought  and  sentiment,  along  the  same  lines  as  those 
followed  by  most  of  our  great  modern  fraternities. 
They  1  lave  championed  and  advocated  the  fatherhood 
of  God,  the  brotherhood  of  ]Man,  immortality,  and  sal¬ 
vation  by  character,  and  these  are  the  very  principles 
for  which  nearly  all  the  great  fraternities  stand. 
Taught  these  principles  in  childhood,  as  they  should 
be  taught  them  in  the  Sunday  schools  and  churches, 
people  wul]  not  have  to  unlearn  or  deny  them  should 
they  choose  to  identify  themsehms  with  almost  any 
one  of  our  present  day  fraternities,  as  those  brought 
up  in  “Orthodox”  Sunday  schools  and  churches  have 
to  unlearn,  deny  or  ignore  much  tliat  has  been  taught 
them  if  they  become  members  of  a  lodge.  And  it  is 
most  important  that  they  be  taught  to  the  children  in 
the  Sunday  schools.  It  is,  as  a  rule,  in  childhood  that 
life  characters  are  formed.  Feeling  the  tremendous 
importance  of  this  phase  of  the  subject,  I  appeal  to 
you  brethren,  in  the  name  of  God,  Father  of  us  all, 
to  wake  up  and  realize  your  great  responsibilities  and 
your  glorious  opportunities.  If  we  really  believe  in 
the  fatherhood  of  God,  the  brotherhood  of  Man,  im¬ 
mortality  and  salvation  by  character,  then  we  should 
do  something  more  in  our  church  than  fill  a  pew 
occasionally  and  make  our  annual  contribution  to  its 
financial  support.  We  should  come  fully  to  realize 
the  great  need  of  a  complete  understanding  and 
harmonious  endeavor  on  the  part  of  all  institutions 
that  are  striving  to  work  out,  along  the  same  lines,  a 
nobler  destiny  for  mankind.  The  liberal  churches  and 


19 


iiiiiiiy  of  our  great  fraternities  have,  as  I  have  shown 
you,  a  conmion  basis.  We  should  fully  realize  the  great 
importance  of  seeing  to  it  tliat  the  children  of  all 
who  approve  that  basis,  and  want  to  see  it  strength¬ 
ened  and  perpetuated,  are  taught  principles  that  are 
in  complete  harmony  with  it.  We  should  count  it  a 
great  privilege  to  help  bring  about  a  consummation 
so  important  and  so  devoutly  to  be  wished.  We 
sliould  lose  no  opportunity  to  let  those  fraternity 
people,  whose  faitii  in  the  dogmatic  and  ceremonial 
form  of  religion  is  Ijreaking  down,  know  that  there  is 
a  church  in  which  they  can  find  a  home,  and  in  whose 
Sunday  schools  their  children  can  be  taught  principles 
which  they,  as  fraternity  people,  have  already  enthu¬ 
siastically  approved. 

As  the  children  of  Clod,  we  are  all  members  of  tlie 
same  household,  and  must  therefore  share  in  tlie 
family  conditions  we  help  to  create.  We  should 
realize  this  and  cultivate  the  spirit  manifested  by 
Abraham  when  his  lierdmen  and  those  of  Lot  entered 
into  strife  over  the  pasture  lands  which  they  desired 
for  the  lierds  of  their  respective  masters.  Knowing 
that  there  was  enougli  for  all,  and  to  spare,  Abraham 
appealed  thus  to  Lot :  “  l^et  there  be  no  strife,  I  pray 
thee,  between  me  and  thee,  and  between  my  lierdmen 
and  tliy  lierdmen  ;  for  we  be  brethren.”  That  should 
be  our  cry  to  the  world.  We  are  all  brethren,  and 
our  Father  has  provided  abundantly  for  the  whole 
household.  Once  we  recognize  his  goodness,  and 
our  relationship,  in  such  a  practical  way  as  the  prin¬ 
ciple  of  salvation  by  character  implies,  the  implica- 


20 


tion  of  wliicli  is  the  reproduction,  in  all  lives,  of 
the  reverence,  love  and  service  that  so  wondrously 
characterized  the  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  mutual 
respect  and  helpfulness  will  become  universal,  and 
we  can  then  truthfully  and  triumphantly  sing : 
“Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace, 
good  will  toward  men.” 


